Weakness
by Takara Hatake
Summary: Sai, Sakura and Sasuke go on a mission... Sai precede them, and comes back seriousely wounded... Them, things start to get wrong ! Romancedrama, but hay end relatively


A little idea I had before I fell asleep... Enjoy !

Weakness

Sai lifted his hand to make his teammates stop. Sakura and Sasuke froze next to him and waited for his orders. This time, it had been Sai, and not Sakura, who had been given the responsability of the mission. And he was indeed doing very well.

« All right. We will stop here for the night.

« What ? But Sai, Sakura protested, it isn't evening yet ! We could go on for a while !

« We could. But we won't. If we go any further, we will enter the Sound country, and it would be much more dangerous to spend the night there. We can go on tomorrow, in full light, and having slept. Any question ?

« Hn. » Said Sasuke, who had already lowered his bag.

« Good. Then you can start unpacking and setting camp while I have a look to our surroundings.

« What ! Said Sakura. You are not going anywhere near the border alone ! That would be mere stupidity !

« I'm going to set traps just in case. I won't go too far. Don't worry for me, and watch after Sasuke. »

Sasuke glared at him :

« I don't need to be looked after.

« Must I remind you that although you have left Oto no Kuni, Orochimaru still considers you his next body ? You are the one not to be left alone. And I don't think Sakura will be terribly annoyed to have to stay with you...

-What the hell do you mean by that ! Sakura shouted.

-Cut the sarcasm, added Sasuke. We see your point.

« I knew you would », answered Sai with his little smile.

He was about to leave, when Sakura caught up with him :

« At least, I will send one of my clones to come with you.

-No. That would spend your chakra. Anyway, you shouldn't worry about me.

-Then, promise me to be careful... »

Sai looked down in Sakura's eyes, and was surprised to see genuine concern and worry in them. He wouldn't have thought she could worry for somebody else than Sasuke. That made him feel strange. Not really uncomfortable. Just strange.

He decided not to press the matter further.

« All right. »

He disappeared right under Sakura's eyes, and she stayed there for a while, staring at where he had just stood, before slowly walking back to the camp.

Two hours later, they had finished setting camp, building a fire and had even had time to train. But Sai still hadn't come back.

Sakura was getting more and more worried, while Sasuke, despite his talent at not showing his emotions, was clearly getting nervous. They didn't speak about it, though. Doing so would only have made it worse.

But after another half-hour, Sakura was ready to explode, and she sprang to her feet :

« I'm going after him.

« Our orders are to wait here at the camp.

« He must be in danger, or he would be back !

« He didn't say when he would return. Maybe he is on his way back.

« Then I'll meet him halfway ! I'm going. You stay here. »

She was tying her shuriken bag to her thigh. Sasuke sighed and finally got up too.

« No way. I'm coming. »

Sakura was in no mood to argue. Moreover, having an Uchiwa with her would be more help than bother. She nodded, and was finding her way to the mouth of the clearing, when she froze with a gasp.

Sai was staggering towards her, his hand holding his bloody side, blood oozing from his face. He seemed to have used his last strength to come back to his teammates. When he saw Sakura, he extended a hand :

« Sa... Sakura... Please... Help... »

Sakura rushed forward, confusingly wondering that he was still on his feet and alive, and put her hands to his chest and side, trying to gather her vital force to help him. When she finally managed to do so, she licked her lips nervously and stared up to Sai :

« Hold on, it will be ok in a minute. »

The look on his face made her eyes widen. She tried to shrink back, but it was too late.

The false Sai, still smiling that awful smile, dug a kunaï into her guts.

Sakura groaned and felle to the ground, holding herself, feeling her life flowing out of her along with her blood.

Sasuke hadn't seen what had happened, as he was standing behind her. But when he glanced at the man's face, he took it all in quickly, and stepped before Sakura, activating his Sharingan.

The fight started.

When Sai finally came back to the camp, and saw Sasuke fighting that guy, who had borrowed his appearence, and Sakura lying on the ground, bleeding, he came close to losing his mind and his grip on himself.

He quickly draw a whole troop of tigers that went to finish off that bastard from Oto no Kuni (probably), and immediately turned to Sakura.

Sasuke soon joined him. Sai crouched near the injured med-nin and placed her head in his lap. Clenching his teeth, he tried to estimate how long she could hold on again, but he was not a medic, and anyway, his appreciation was not very encouraging. He turned to his still conscious teammate :

«How the hell could you let yourselves be fooled by a mere Genjutsu ! Are you an Uchiwa or what ? And I thought Sakura was good at detecting them too ! What...

« We saw you entering the clearing, bleeding to death and gravely wounded ! Sakura panicked, that's understandable !

« It is not. I've seen her stay calm when Naruto, or you, were wounded ! Making sure that was really me was simple common sense !

« She could not really stay calm... One has no common sense left when the person one is in love with is in danger ! »

Sai looked at him, trying to make sure if he was joking or not. If he was, that was not really the time for it.

« Then I would think she would lose her calm when YOU are wounded.

-Idiot. That's not me she looks at with these eyes. Anyway...

« Anyway, that was stupid of her. But I'm not surpised anymore. Love makes people weak. A true ninja should never feel love.

« Sai, that's...

« For now, let's try to save her. Wait a minute. »

Sai took his water canteen from his belt, and watered Sakura's face, using his chakra to make the liquid be more effective. When Sakura opened her eyes, he did not lose time and said :

« Sakura. You have to heal yourself right now, or you are going to die. »

The young med-nin penibly came back to her senses and tried to straightened herself in order to gather her chakra and start the healing, but soon found out she could not.

« I'm... Sorry... I have not enough strenght left... »

Sai pulled her to a sitting position, and placed his hands on her back, then he closed his eyes.

« Use the chakra I lend you. »

Sasuke, standing bahind them, saw Sai's blue chakra pass into Sakura's body, and, turning green, begin to heal her wounds. He sighed in relief when he saw that her flesh was mending thanks to Sai's chakra.

The drawer held on until Sakura was finished and passed out because of the effort, and until he knew she would be safe.

Then he left himself fall to the ground, and, fighting to keep his eyes open, turned to Sasuke :

« She has taken most of my chakra, I will have to get some rest... I'm sorry, but can you look after her while I sleep ?

« Of course. I will look after you, too, Sasuke added with one of his rare smiles.

« Thank you. I need it, and that's all because of her... I have just realized that... She makes me weak, too... »

On these words, Sai promptly fell asleep.

And Sasuke, settling to keep watch, thought that Sai would be even more trouble than before to deal with.That was probably the closest he would ever come from admitting he felt something for the pink-haired kunoichi.

Poor Sakura. She would have her hand full with that one.

°°°°°

Sooo ? Did you like it ? I think it's cute... Not the kind of romance I usually write, but I like it nevertheless . Comments ?


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